Organized Crime & Gangs

The introduction of the Taser in the early 21st century drove a transformation in law enforcement, harnessing the stopping power of a pistol without the lethality. Used more often in the US than pepper spray or batons, law enforcement around the world and most officers in the U.S. carry the

News on drones and security have largely highlighted the major risks drones pose to various industries and to populations at large. This is not without good reason; suicide drones have been used in attempted assassinations, cartels use them to smuggle drugs across borders, ISIS has used them to drop grenades,

The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency has recently described a surge in drug trafficker’s use of immigrants at the border to distract U.S. officers to open up unprotected smuggling lanes. In one recent instance, a group of 247 immigrants from Central America arrived at the border and 50 of

Although over 60,000 people have been vaccinated and 4,000 kept under surveillance, the DRC’s ongoing Ebola outbreak has spread southwards into an area suffering from frequent fighting between various militias and the military. The outbreak recently became the country’s worst ever, with at least 439 dead and 713 infected. Successfully

While FARC has been largely demobilized as a unified militant entity since a landmark peace deal in 2016, the National Liberation Army (ELN), another Marxist rebel group in the country, has taken their place as the largest guerrilla organization. And since the FARC demobilization, the ELN conflict has increased. Most

The national problem of fuel theft was highlighted in Mexico over the weekend as at least 73 people died as the result of an explosion caused by illegal taps into a pipeline on Friday night. This kind of theft results in over $3 billion USD in losses and per year,

With the highest murder rate in the world, violence is escalating even further in the run-up to the country’s February 3rd presidential elections. Sources indicate that gangs are using the violence to pressure politicians to include them in electoral platforms or to work towards a truce similar to the one

Although FARC groups have been largely demobilized in the two years since the peace deal they signed with the Colombian government, the government has been unable to prevent escalation in illegal activities that impact the country’s forests, an escalation that is heavily driven by the fallout of a demobilized FARC.

Three “Polish thugs” with ties to neo-fascist and pro-Russian parties have been accused of setting fires at a Hungarian Cultural Association building in Ukraine in order to weaken Ukrainian-Hungarian relations. The accused were allegedly paid $265 each for the attacks and sources have accused Russia of having an instigating role,

Community leaders and human rights advocates in Colombia are being assassinated at a rate of roughly 1 every 3 days, the highest rate in the world, since the 2016 peace agreement with FARC. 5 out of the 6 most dangerous countries for these killings are in Latin America and include Guatemala,